Metallurgical furnace.



No. 792,223 PATENTBD JUNE 13, 1905. J. w. LANSING.

METALLURGIUAL FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15, 1904.

WEI-E5525, Chas. E, Ciao/1v.

Patented June 13, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB W. LANSING, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

METALLURGICAL FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,223, dated June 13, 1905. Application filed June 15, 1904. Serial No. 212,706.

To (6 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAooB W. LANSING, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Recovering Values from the Fumes of Tellurium Ores, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in metallurgical furnaces, and particularly in furnaces employed for the treatment of telluride ores.

In recent years many mines have been opened up and worked in which gold and other values exist in great quantities in combination with tellurium; but in order to extract these values it is necessary first to roast the ore. This roasting has generally been done in open furnaces, with the result that a considerable proportion of the values have passed olf in the form of tellurium-fumes and have become entirely lost.

It is the object of my invention to employ a closed furnace and to provide means in conjunction therewith to collect and condense these otherwise lost tellurium-fumes and to save their values.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combination of parts,as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of my furnace. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of same, showing condenser partly in section. Fig. 3 is a section through condenser, showing vertical fines.

In carrying out my invention any number of furnaces may be employed and operated conjunctively. In the present instance I have shown three furnaces A A A each of the upright closed type and having an ore-feed at the top provided with a suitable closure 2, an ore-chamber 3, gratebars 4t, supporting the ore charge, a fire-box 5, an ashepit 6, and respective doors 7 8 9 for the ore-chamber, firebox, and ash-pit. The doors 7 are arranged at the bottom of the ore-chambers and are for the purpose of allowing withdrawal of the roasted ore charge. The doors 7 in the top of the ore-chambers are for the purpose of cooling the furnaces after each roasting period. Each fire-box has at its rear and near its top a separate pipe 8, connected with a common stack-pipe 9, and each pipe 8 has a valve or damper 9*. These pipes and valves are for the purpose of diverting the heat of the furnace-fires from the ore-chambers when withdrawal of the ore charge is contemplated. A pipe 10 leads from the top of each orechamber to a tank or receptacle 11, inclosing a condensing-chamber 12, which is kept partly filled with cold or cool water. The pipes 10 open into vertically-arranged flues 13, which have their upper ends closed and their lower ends opening beneath the level of the water and preferably near the bottom of the watertank.

14 is an exhauster run by suitable means and disposed above the water-level and adapted to create or assist in the draft through the bodies of ore in the furnaces and to cause all the telluric fumes and gases to pass through the body of water in the tank before being discharged into the open air.

Access is had to the interior of chamber 11 through a manhole 15, suitably packed, when closed, so as to render it gas-tight.

In order to keep the temperature of the water in the tank sufliciently low to effect condensation, provision is made for the continual inflow and outflow. Water may enter the tank continuously through a pipe 16, connected with any convenient source of supply. It flows out through a coil-pipe 17,-having one or more turns and with one end opening near the bottom of and within the tank and the other end discharging at a point exterior to the tank and at an elevation corresponding to the desired height of the water-level in the tank. The amount of water in the tank and the depth of submergence of the dischargepipe 17 are such that the resistance afforded to the possible entry of air through pipe 17 to the tank is greater than the resistance through the ore bodies, so that the function of the exhauster may not be nullified. This 7 continuous water feed and discharge is essential by reason of the heated gases coming from the furnaces. If there was not a continual circulation of water in the tank, the tempera ture of the contained Water would soon be brought to such ahigh point that the purpose of the condenser would be entirely destroyed.

During the charging and discharging of the ore-chambers the dampers 18 in pipes 10 may be closed.

in operation an orechamber is charged with ore through the top opening. The cover 2 is then replaced and made gas-tight and the doors 7 and 7 and damper 9 closed and damper 1'8 opened. Heat is applied beneath the ore body and the exhauster set in motion. The gases and fumes evolved from the-ore, as well as the waste gases of combustion, are drawn by the exhauster through the pipes 10 and fines 11 into the tank, where the condensable' vapors deposit their values, which latter in the case of gold-bearing ores are recovered as free gold later. At the termination of the roasting period the doors 8 and the dampers 9 are opened and the heat from the fire-boxes is diverted through pipes 8 into stack 9. The operation of the eXh-auster is continued until all the telluric fumes are drawn off from the ore body. The doors 7 and 7 may then be thrown open and the ore charge allowed to coolsufficiently, whereupon it is withdrawn and sent off to be lixiviated or treated by any suitable process whereby the values in the ore are recoverable.

The dampers 18 in pipes 10 allow any one of the furnaces to be cut out without interfering with the operation of the others. Thus the furnaces may be charged and discharged successively. The exhauster would stop and the tank would be opened only when it was desired to clean up.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. The combination of a furnace having a plurality of upright interconnected furnaces each having a normally closed ore-chamber and a fire-box beneath the ore charge, a water-containing receptacle, a connection between each ore-chamber and the receptacle, a stack separate from and devoid of connection with the water-containing receptacle, connections between the fire-boxes of the furnaces and said stack and valves in the connections by which the heat of the furnace-fires may be diverted'from the ore-chambers, means for inducing a draft through the receptacle, and the ore-chambers and intermediate connections, and means for maintaining a continued circulation of cooling fluid through the receptacle.

2. The combination of a plurality of interconnected upright furnaces each including normally closed ore-chambers, and a lire-box underlying the same, a single stack and connections between the same and each of the fire-boxes, said connections havingv dampers by which the heat of the fire may be diverted from the superposed ore-chamber, an inclosed water-containing receptacle and means connecting the upper portion of the same with the upper portions of the ore-chambers, said stack being separate from and devoid of connection witlisaid receptacle, an exhauster connected to the receptacle above the water-level thereof, valves in the connections between the ore-chambers and receptacle whereby a draft from one of the chambers may be discontinued without interfering with the others, and means by which a continual circulation of cool water may be maintained in the receptacle to counteract the excessive heating of the water by the fumes.

3. The combination with a plurality of upright furnaces having normally closed orechambers, fire-boxes beneath said ore-chambers, means for charging and discharging said ore-chambers, said fire-boxes having exit-passages whereby their heat may be diverted from the ore-chambers, valves in said passages, a closed water-containing receptacle, connections between the ore-chambers and said receptacle whereby the evolved gases are discharged into said receptacle beneath the surface of the water, valves in said connections,- an exhauster in conjunction with the receptacle whereby a draft is induced through the orechambers and body of water, means whereby a continuous flow of water into and out of the receptacle may be maintained, and a stack separate from and devoid of connection with the receptacle and into which the exit-passages of the fire-boxes lead.

at. The combination with a furnace having a fire-box and an ore-chamber, and means for charging and discharging the ore-chamber, a closed water-containing receptacle and valvecontrolled connections between the same and the ore-chamber for discharging the evolved gases into the receptacle beneath the surface of the water, and means for inducing. a draft through the ore-chamber and body of water, of a stack separate from and devoid of con nection with the receptacle, and valve-controlled pipes leading from the lire-boxes to the stack whereby the heat of the furnacefire may be diverted from the ore-chamber.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JACOB WV. LANSING. Witnesses:

M. H. LUDLow, A. D. WEBB. 

